Pile fabric and method of making same



DeC- 29, 1942. F. M. KAUFMAN PILE-FABRIC AND METHOD OF MAKING SAMEA Filed May 9, 1941 FIG. I

Patented Dec. 29, 1942 2,3062390 l PILE FABRIC AND METHOD or MAKING SAME Frank M. Kaufman, Merion, Pa., assignor to p Collins & Aikman Corporation, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Delaware Application May 9, 1941, Serial No. 392,625

10 Claims. (Cl. 139-397) This invention relates to a method of weaving novel pile fabrics in which the inclination of the legs of the pile tufts is determined by the interlacing of the pile forming yarns with a regularly shedded and uniform backing or ground fabric.

More particularly, the invention is directed to positioning alternate weft threads above and below a tight set of backing warps and securing the weft threads in position by a set of slack backing warps which weave oppositelyV to the tight warps at all times so as to form a uniform backing to which the pile tufts are secured in a selective or predetermined manner.

According to my improvements the pile tufts are on the general form of a W or distorted W and each tuft passes over a weft which lies above the tight warps and under other weft threads to form the desired inclination of the pile legs. It will thus be seen that I can effect a wide range of effects and patterns by the judicious manipulation of the pile warps and that this is done without resorting to complicated ground weaves which necessitate selective control of the backing warps and hence strains which reduce weaving efficiency and increase breakage.

illustrated embodiments, it enables me to change I" at will from a regular weave to an inclined weave and back to a regular Weave without losing the staggered relationship of the tufts in the plain or eld area if and when this is desired.

An object of my invention is to provide a cut pile fabric having a backing comprising wefts in two planes, the pile tufts of which pass over a weft in the upper plane and the alternate wefts of the backing being either over or under all of the tight backing warps and secured thereto only by slack backing warps which weave oppositely to the tight backing warps.

Another object is to provide a method of Weaving two of such fabrics simultaneously.

Another object is to form concentrated pile areas and sparse pile areas by inclining pile tufts secured to a regularly woven backing consisting of weft threads, slack warps and tight warps.

Another object is to provide a cut pile fabric in which one but not both of the legs of predetermined tufts are inclined and in which the weave is such that the patterns so formed do not interfere with the relationship or spacing of regularly formed tufts of the same fabric.

These and other objects of invention will be manifest from a consideration of the following description, claims and drawing, in which:

Figure I is a diagrammatic View of a preferred embodiment of my improved fabric showing three warpwise rows of tufts.

Figure II illustrates the threads which pass through a reed dent and the simultaneous weaving of two fabrics according to my improvements, the weave being the same as in the top row of tufts in Figure I.

' Figure III is a diagrammatic View of a modification.

Figure IV is similar to Figure II and illustrates the simultaneous weaving of a row of pile tufts as illustrated by the top row of tufts in Figure III.

Referring to Figure I of the drawing, wherein the threads are widely spaced to better show the interlacings, the wefts I, 2, 3, 4, la, 2a, 3a, 4a, lb 2b, 3b, 4b, Ic, 2c, 3c, 4c, Id, 2d, 3d, 4d, le, 2e, 3e, 4e, and If are alternately positioned above and below tight warps 5 and are secured in position by a slack warp E which Weave oppositely to the tight warps 5 to form a regular and simple backing or ground fabric. The odd numbered wefts are below the tight warps4 and the even numbered wefts above them. In Figure I the top and bottom rows of tufts 'I are shown as spaced or offset two picks from the middle row and it will be noted that but one leg of 'some of the tufts is inclined. None of the legs of the tufts of the bottom row is inclined and together with the tufts to the right .in the upper two rows may constitute a portion of the plain field area. The middle row of tufts in order of from left to right shows interlacings which cause the right leg of the first tuft to be inclined and the left leg of the third and fourth tufts to be inclined. All the other legs of the tufts in this row are erect or merely inclined by a pressure from the inclined legs referred to. The middle row of tufts (Figure I) illustrates the transition from the inclined weave to the regular field weave prior to such transition in the upper row. NeXt adjacent pile tufts in a single row are preferably formed from two different pile yarns and are slightly offset from each other with the result that the effect of inclined legs on adjacent erect legs will be relatively small.

As will be seen from the figures, the relative interlacing of backing and pile is based on a four pick repeat concept in .which both legs of each tuft (bottom row Figure I) are supported in a substantially erect position by a weft above the tight warps. These supporting wefts do not interlace with the tufts which they support but may interlace with tufts of next adjacent rows.

Figure II illustrates a preferred manner of Weaving and a portion of the top row of tufts` and wefts inFigure I`. Pairsof wefts 3, 4, la, 2a, 3a, 4a, Ib, 2b, 3b, 4b, lc, 2c, 3c, 4c, Id, 2d, 3d, 4d,

le, 2e, 3e, 4e and If are alternately under and4 over the tight warps 5 when the fabrics are cut apart and face up. Tight warps 5 together with slack Warp 6 are shed to provide for the simultaneous insertion of a pair'of wefts such as. 2f. The pile yarns 8 and 9 Weave oppositely -to form a like top and bottom fabric.

It will be seen (Figure II) that the baclL'ng is perfectly regular and that from left to right the right leg of the rst tuft will be inclined, both legsV .the tight warps and the others of the weft threads of the set being positioned under the tight warps, those weft threads over the tight warps individually alternating with those under the tight warp threads lto lie in two different planes, and pile tufts secured to the backing fabric, some of said tufts passing successively under a weft in the lower plane, over a weft in the upper plane and under the neXt adjacent According to my improvements two fabrics can be woven simultaneously in a relatively simple manner and opposite movement of the sets of tight and slack warps in shedding for weft insertion is uniform throughout the fabric, regardless of the inclination or erectness of the pile tufts. This feature is a distinct advantage as it is impractical to subject the tight warps to jacquard or pattern shedding.

The pile weaves with the slack warps to form a knee on the face of the fabric and to form an erect leg. It weaves opposite -to the slack warps at the point where an inclined leg is formed.

Figures III and IV represent a modication which differs from Figures I and II in that the pile passes over both a top and bottom weft when a leg is inclined. The backings are identical and the threads lthereof are given the same reference numbers as in both embodimen-ts. The tufts I0 are formed from pile yarns Il and I2 and Figure III bears the same relationship to Figure IV that Figure I bears to Figure II.

In both modifications it will be' seen that the tufts which form the plain area or field are shed and move with the slack warpsl 6. These tufts may be said to weave with the slack warps 6. The inclined legs are formed by causing a portion or portions of a tuft to weave oppositely to the slack warps.

Having described my invention in preferred embodiments, I claim:

1. In a cut pile woven fabric, the combination of a backing fabric which consists of a set of tight warps, a set of oppositely woven slack warps and a set of weft threads, some of the number of weft threads of the set being positioned over all of the ight warps and the others of the weft threads of the set being positioned under all of the tight warps, those weft threads over the tight warps individually alternating with those under the tight warps to lie in two different planes, and pile tufts secured to the backing fabric, at least some of said tufts passing successivelyunder a weft in the lower planegover a weftfin the upper weft in the upper plane, whereby at least one of the legs of said tufts is inclined from the vertical.

3. In a cut pile woven fabric, the combination of a backing fabric which consists of a set of tight warps, a set of oppositely woven slack warps and a set of wei-t threads, some of the number of weft threads of the set being positioned over all of the tight warps and the others ofthe weft threads of the set being positioned under all of the tight warps, those weft threads over the tight warps individually alternating with those under the tight warps to lie in two different planes, and W pile tufts secured to the backing fabric, said tufts passing over a weft in the upper plane and under two succeeding wefts which lie in different planes.

4. In a cutY pile woven fabric having a plain and a design area, the combination of a backing fabric which consists of a set of tight warps, a set of oppositely woven slack warps and a set of weft threads, some of the number of the weft threads of the set being positioned over all of the tight warps and the others of the weft threads of the set being positioned under the tight warps, those weft threads over the tight warps individually alternating with those under the tight warp threads to lie in two different planes, regular W pile tufts which weave with the slack warps and other W pile tufts which in part weave oppositely to the slack warps and in part with the slack warps, whereby a permanent inclination of pile is produced.

5. In a cut pile woven fabric, the combination of a backing fabric which consists of a set of tight warps, a set of oppositely woven slack warps and a set of weft threads, some of the number of weft threads of the set being positioned over all of the ltight warps and the others of the weft threads of the set being positioned under all of the tight warps, those weft threads over the tight warps individually alternating with those under the tight warps to lie in two different planes, and a warpwise row of W pile tufts secured to the backing, said warpwise row having a condensed pile area formed from three W tufts, the first and third tufts of which have a leg inclined toward the other and one leg of the middle tuft of the three being positioned between the same pair of wefts as is the inclined leg of the first tuft, and the other leg of the middle tuft being positioned between the same pair of wefts as is the inclined leg of the third tuft, whereby both legs of the middle tuft are inclined toward the knee of the middle tuft and a condensed pile area is formed in the warp row.

6. In a cut pile woven fabric having a plain and a'design area, the combination7 of a backing fabric which consists of a set of tight warps, a set of oppositely woven slack warps and a set of weft threads, some of the number of the weft threads of the set being positioned over all of the tight warps and the others of the weft threads of the set being positioned under the tight warps, those weft threads over the tight warps individually alternating with those under the tight warp threads to lie in two different planes, regular W pile tufts which weave with the slack warps to form a plain area and other W pile tufts which in part weave oppositely to the slack warps, theV pile tufts of the plain area being staggered two picks in next adjacent rows.

7. In a double pile fabric which is to be cut apart to form two cut pile fabrics, the combination of two backing fabrics, each of which consists of a set of tight warps, a set of oppositely woven slack warps and a set of weft threads, some of the number of weft threads being positioned over all the tight warps of its backing and the others of the number of weft threads of that backing being under all the tight warps, those wefts over the tight warps individually alternating with those wefts under the tight warps to lie in two different panes, and a pair of interconnecting pile forming yarns which interlace with both backing fabrics symmetrically to each other and which when the fabric is cut apart and face up pass successively under a weft in the lower plane, over a weft in the upper plane and under the next adjacent weft in the upper plane, whereby at least one of the legs of the tuft is inclined from the vertical.

8. In a process of weaving, the steps which consist of providing two sets of tight warps and two sets of slack warps, shedding the sets of slack warps to weave oppositely to the sets of tight warps at all times, inserting a single weft thread in each shed after each crossing of the warps to form two regular backing fabrics and interconnecting the two backing fabrics simultaneously with the weaving of the backings, with pile forming yarns which form a W pile tuft, one leg of which is inclined and one leg of which is erect, said W pile tuft being formed by being selectively shed with a set of slack warps to form the erect leg and shed oppositely to the slack warps to form the inclined leg.

9. In a process of weaving, the steps which consist of providing two sets of tight warps and two sets of slack warps, shedding the sets of slack warps to weave oppositely to the sets of tight warps at -all times, inserting a single weft thread in each shed after each crossing of the warps to form two regular backing fabrics and interconnecting the two backing fabrics, simultaneously with the weaving of the backings, with pile forming warp yarns which form two types of W pile tufts, one of which types has both legs erect and the other type of which has one leg erect and the other leg inclined, said W pile tufts being formed by being shed with the sets of slack warps to form the erect legs and shed oppositely to the slack. warps to form the inclined legs.

10. In a process of double yweaving plain and design areas in a pile fabric, the steps which include providing two sets of tight warps and two sets of slack warps, shedding the sets of tight warps oppostely to the sets of slack warps at all times, forming two uniform and regular backings by simultaneously inserting one each of pairs of Wefts in the successive pairs of sheds and interconnecting the two backing fabrics concurrently with the weaving of the backings with pile yarns which form regular W pile tufts having two erect legs and irregular pile tufts which pass over a weft inserted above the tight warps when the fabric is cut apart and face up, said irregular W pile tufts having one leg inclined and one leg erect, said erect and inclined legs being formed by selectively shedding the pile forming yarns with the slack warps when erect legs are desired and being shed oppositely to the slack warps to form the inclined legs. 

